Who’s wireless these days?

[Blix]

I cringe every time I see those Shure GLXD's mentioned, with their terrible latency specs

 

[Dave Lewis]

I use the Boss on boards and the HB around the place when I don’t want a cable in the way.
Mainly on combos with no pedals.

The HB I’ve had for seven years and it’s still going strong.
Works down the garden and through walls.
I bought it after watching this video of Henning walking around his house with it.

 

[Intimo]

Do these fall out at all during backflips?

 

[2dor]

I'm full wireless (XVive U4 and Harley Benton AirBorne 5.8GHz) for over a year now.
It's refreshing to not have to worry about cables that much.

 

[Warmart]

I had this Enya from Amazon, that broke in less than a month. They sent me a replacement that broke in less than a week, so I punted. With no revolving plug, the simple pressure it received from plugging in seemingly damaged the connection to the PCB. Crappy soldering I guess?

Yesterday I got this Lekato 5.8 Ghz from Amazon, works well but for some reason the green light on the receiver is "slow blinking", which supposedly means "interference or pairing issue". But if I change the channel on the transmitter, it doesn't even burp, can't sense any hiccups or anything. Only other thing I don't like is it spins too easily in any guitar I've tried.

 

[DrewJD82]

I had this Enya from Amazon, that broke in less than a month. They sent me a replacement that broke in less than a week, so I punted. With no revolving plug, the simple pressure it received from plugging in seemingly damaged the connection to the PCB. Crappy soldering I guess?

Yesterday I got this Lekato 5.8 Ghz from Amazon, works well but for some reason the green light on the receiver is "slow blinking", which supposedly means "interference or pairing issue". But if I change the channel on the transmitter, it doesn't even burp, can't sense any hiccups or anything. Only other thing I don't like is it spins too easily in any guitar I've tried.

Yeah, I’ll probably stick some velcro on the transmitter/guitar to hold them in place better. While I won’t be doing any backflips onstage anytime soon, my guitars are practically hanging at me knees and are going to get banged into shit at gigs, I can just see me catching the corner of the transmitter on a cab or mic stand.

 

[ragingplatypi]

What we really need is for a guitar hero to say the $19.99 XKZZYIE G-6 on Amazon is essential to their toanz on that EDM version of an 80’s power ballad that reached 2trillion plays on Spotify.

 

[ispunk]

Shure GLXD here. Never noticed the latency problem mentioned earlier. Those goofy ass dongle wireless systems look like the Little Tikes of wireless.

 

[adam]

I've got an old line 6 g50, how do the new lekato, xvives and nix's these days compete?

 

[Sascha Franck]

Most of the cheaper ones come in at around 5-10ms latency. Depending on whether you add serial, digital devices and possibly IEMs, this might not be a great combo anymore.
I'm not saying it won't work, but I'd defenitely give things a very thorough testride.

(Fwiw, for me it's cables until I die, unless I'm forced to use wireless stuff.)

 

[2112]

I've done about 150 shows in the last year or so with NUX B8 and it's been pretty solid. Nice being able to mount the transmitter on the receiver to recharge.

 

[itchyfingers]

Another vote for the Boss WL-20. Doesn't take up any real estate on the pedalboard, charge lasts well beyond a rehearsal and a gig, and no noticeable latency. And its a Boss, so it should outlast the roaches in the apocalypse.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Another vote for the Boss WL-20. Doesn't take up any real estate on the pedalboard, charge lasts well beyond a rehearsal and a gig, and no noticeable latency. And its a Boss, so it should outlast the roaches in the apocalypse.

Oh, with 2.3ms latency that's in fact quite nice.

 

[deathbyguitar]

I've used Xvive U2's for years and they're fine although a bit noisy and easily susceptible to wifi interference if there's a router near the stage (shudder) but the new A58's have been excellent for me. Different frequency range, USB C charging, lower noise floor and a replaceable battery. Also comes with a cool little case.

Xvive A58 Wireless Guitar System

A58 Digital Wireless Guitar System with A58 Receiver and A58 Transmitter - 5.8GHz

www.sweetwater.com

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

I only use wireless when there is no escaping it…and that has been one small concertour in 10 years
The latency, the “s**t I forgot to charge it”, more gear to handle, don’t weigh into the benifits for me.

I do use one on my couch rig…into a nux air..#nocablemess in the living.

 

[Baba]

Yeah, I’ll probably stick some velcro on the transmitter/guitar to hold them in place better. While I won’t be doing any backflips onstage anytime soon, my guitars are practically hanging at me knees and are going to get banged into shit at gigs, I can just see me catching the corner of the transmitter on a cab or mic stand.

Yup, the dongles definitely spin, and that messes with my OCD too much, so I bought a couple of these:

H1 Transmitter Holder - Xvive Audio

Allows you to attach your U2 Guitar Wireless System Transmitter to a guitar strap—distancing it from your instrument’s output jack ¼” extension cable (included) connects the U2 Transmitter to the output of your guitar or bass Protect your U2 Transmitter in the H1’s leather holster, instead of...

xvive.com

 

[mbenigni]

I've had the WL-20s and a pair of the cheap 2.4GHz dongles (Lekato, maybe) for years. I go through phases of using them and loving the absence of a cable, and then getting antsy about the tone, or forgetting to charge, or getting into a groove with the wrong guitar (some guitars will not play nicely with the transmitters, especially the Boss with its TRS auto-detect nonsense) and then going back to cables for a while.

It might be time to kiss a new frog and have a go with the Lekato WS-50 5.8GHz linked above. And then I'd probably chuck my other wireless systems, or relegate them to "utility work". (They can be great for sending a low-latency signal to a monitor next to the drum kit or whatever.)

 

[JasonE]

I have used and mixed many wireless units. I will only buy a wireless with one of two names on it, Shure or Sennheiser. I have seen issues with pretty much every unit I have been around that are not made by one of these companies. There is a reason these are the names you see on big tours. IMHO, they are worth the extra money. I have run both digital and analog from these folks and they just work.

 

[M@tt C]

just picked up a Sennheiser EW-D CI1 system and am really impressed so far.

I had a Shure GLXD14 before, and the Sennheiser seems like a step up in terms of quality, sound, and features.

My only dislike was the crappy included cable- I replaced that with a Mogami from Horizon Audio.

1st gig is this weekend in a bar with lots of cell phones, lighting, etc. Fingers crossed it works as well as it does at home!

 

[Blix]

just picked up a Sennheiser EW-D CI1 system and am really impressed so far.

I had a Shure GLXD14 before, and the Sennheiser seems like a step up in terms of quality, sound, and features.

My only dislike was the crappy included cable- I replaced that with a Mogami from Horizon Audio.

1st gig is this weekend in a bar with lots of cell phones, lighting, etc. Fingers crossed it works as well as it does at home!

And only 1.9ms latency, WAY better than the GLXD.